Keating: The small business vote differed from the nation’s

We’ve heard lots about how various groups voted in the November 4 election. That includes voting by race, religion, party affiliation, gender, marital status, and political philosophy.

But how did small-business owners vote?

After all, no group is more important to our economy. Small businesses, for example, produce between 60 percent and 80 percent of net new jobs each year, and generate more than half of nonfarm private gross domestic product. Yet, there hasn’t been much reported on the small business vote.

A survey of voters conducted by The Polling Co. and sponsored by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council offered some interesting findings.

First, 22 percent of voters owned a small business, were self-employed, or earned self-employment income. Therefore, more than one in five voters were entrepreneurs to some degree. Given both their size and economic importance, that’s a voting group warranting attention.

So, for whom did they vote? While voters overall went for Democrat Barack Obama by a 53 percent to 46 percent margin over Republican John McCain, the vote was closer among small-business owners. They went for Obama by only 48 percent to 46 percent.

However, small-business owners voting for Obama seemed more enthusiastic. Among all voters picking Obama, 84 percent agreed their vote was “mostly for” Obama, as opposed to 7 percent “against” McCain. As for Obama small-business voters, 93 percent said their vote was “mostly for” Obama.

The story was very different among McCain supporters. Among those voting for McCain, 71 percent said their votes were “mostly for” McCain, versus 23 percent saying “against” Obama. Among small-business McCain voters, it was 69 percent voting for McCain and 27 percent against Obama.

In addition, these same small-business voters went for Republican George W. Bush over Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race by 51 percent to 38 percent.

Interestingly, small-business voters differed markedly when it came to their representatives in Congress. Among all voters, the poll found that 51 percent voted for the Democrat, and 43 percent for the Republican. That was basically reversed among small-business owners, with 49 percent choosing the Republican candidate and 43 percent the Democrat.

So, small-business owners leaned more Republican in the 2008 election than the general electorate. But they clearly were less enthusiastic for Republican presidential candidate John McCain compared to Republicans running for Congress and compared to their support for President Bush in 2004. This year, many small-business owners apparently would have been happy with a divided government – a Democrat in the White House and Republicans running Congress.

In fact, the survey showed that among small-business voters, 38 percent identified themselves as Republican, with 31 percent saying they were Democrats and 27 percent independents. The Republican-Democrat breakdown was basically reversed among voters in general, with 38 percent Democrat, 33 percent Republican and 25 percent independent.

The numbers were similar regarding social, economic and political views. Among small-business owners, 38 percent were conservative, 31 percent moderate, 25 percent liberal, and, by the way, 2 percent libertarian.

Beyond the political, a key survey question offered worrisome responses for the economy.

The question: “In thinking about entrepreneurship and the future of the U.S. economy, what best describes your outlook for American small-business ownership?” The options were that the American dream of starting and growing a successful small business is “alive and well,” “on life support” or “dead.” The differences here between voters in general and small-business voters were insignificant. Among small-business owners, 36 percent said “alive and well,” and only 6 percent said “dead.” But an overwhelming 57 percent said “on life support.”

Given the central role that small business plays in our economy, this pessimism is troublesome. Some of it likely reflects the current state of the economy. But the many costs government imposes on entrepreneurs also must be considered. That’s something that President-elect Obama and the Democrat-led Congress need to keep in mind when they start making tax, regulatory and trade policies.

It is critical that this nation keep the American dream of building a small business alive and well. If the outlook for entrepreneurship is on life support, then that’s where our economy will be as well.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. He can be reached at rkeating@sbecouncil.org.

One comment

“Pessimism troublesome,” old boy? Could it be due to policies you parroted for years in your Newsday column? After all, corporate America knows best and needs no supervision when it comes to providing jobs and prosperity, right? Government? Please……

Stay tuned for next week’s hard hitting editorial: “How our new found poverty will bring people to Jesus this season.”